Maria Liebana
Instructor of Mondays
Children Dance classes:
- 4:30-5:15 (3 and 4 year old)
- 5:20-6:05 (4 to 7 years old)
Maria loves all forms of dance but has found herself deeply immersed into the world of belly dance. She has studied bellydance, cabaret and East Coast Tribal for the past ten years. She has been an active dancer in the belly dance community in various dance groups and has OFFICIALLY found her dance home at Solstice Studio. She's studied with Sera Solstice, Danielle Hutton, Megan Ward, Noelle Brower, Darshan, Jessica and Brenna for the last three years at the studio. She is a member of East Coast Tribal Salon and Lunar tribe. Maria has been featured in 3 full-length Instructional DVD's on East Coast Tribal: (Foundations of Bellydance, Lunar Bellydance and Solar Bellydance) Maria brings a passion for the expressive, emotional and theatrical movements in belly dance. She believes that dance allows her the freedom to reveal her inner most thoughts and emotions through movement. She is grateful for the encouragement and support from Sera and the Solstice Instructors. She is also grateful for the wonderful dancers in the Solstice community.
She is very excited and grateful to have the opportunity to teach the Children Dance movement class at Solstice Studio. Maria's has worked with children for over the past ten years in early childhood and in the visual arts classrooms. Her teaching approach is based on the Reggio Emilia Philosophy. An approach that focuses and respects the child as individual and by providing experiences for exploration and discovery. Maria is excited to combine Reggio Emilia approach and dance in the curriculum to provide the endless ways and opportunities to express themselves through dance and movement in a safe and nurturing environment. She is a firm believer that as an instructor she is a co-learner and collaborator with each child.
When Maria is not dancing she is pursuing her MFA in Studio Art from the Maine College of Art and works as a full time teacher at a Reggio Emilia based private preschool in New York City.